I Promise
by Corinne2
Summary: R for future chapters. Life for Harry, Ron, and Hermione is changing, and they are rapidly adjusting to their newest battle: growing up. They are teenagers, after all, and the three are learning what that means. R/Hr and H/G.
1. Getting Out

**_Discalaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any part of his world. All are the property of J.K. Rowling and all the companies that she works with. I am attempting to make no profit. _**

This fic is rated R for future chapters. Do not read it if you are not of age! 

This is my first fic, so feedback would be much appreciated. Be kind, but honest. Thanks!   
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It was finally time to get out. Summer heat was creeping under his skin, and life at Number Four Privet Drive was becoming more unbearable by the day. Though better than the past, the Dursleys were miserable creatures. They refused to accept Harry's wizarding nature, though they stopped trying to make it go away. The more courage Harry developed over the years, the more freely he talked about his school and his life around the home of the Dursleys. This, of course, didn't sit too well with his family. The only reason, Harry suspected that they didn't lock him away, never to be seen or heard from again, was that the threat of Sirius Black still loomed in the depths of their minds. It simply wouldn't do well for them to be murdered in their sleep by an escaped convicted criminal. The fact that he was Harry's godfather made them more uneasy and they gave up trying to suppress the magic that continually made itself known when Harry was around. They even gave up on preventing Harry from seeing his friends over the summer. Harry suspected that Arthur Weasley was to thank for Harry's ability to live a normal teenage life. After all, it wasn't every day when a Muggle has his fireplace blown clear from the wall by someone using a small wooden stick, and muttering some "nonsense words." 

Harry, though, certainly didn't protest. In fact, this freedom gave him the chance to do some of the things that he otherwise wouldn't have gotten the chance to do for a while. Harry and his best friends, Hermione and Ron, got to go to see a number of Quidditch games over the season. Harry also was able to go to the Wizarding village of Hogsmeade several times over the summer. It was simply wonderful. Now, it was time to leave Privet Drive once again. Like he had been doing for several years now, Harry was going to Ron's home, The Burrow, for the last couple of weeks of summer. It was going to be a lot of fun. The past months had been wonderful; seeing his friends, and being able to live happily in the Muggle home that he had grown up in was something that Harry had taken full advantage of, but two weeks surrounded by his favorite people in the world . . . well, that promised to be the best part of the summer. Little did Harry know of the multiple threats that were soon to make themselves known in his, Ron's and Hermione's lives. 

Of course, there was Voldemort, Harry's mortal enemy. The threat of the full and powerful return of Voldemort danced in Harry's mind all the time, but he had learned to deal with it. There was nothing to be done to prevent this return. He would simply have to trust that Dumbledore was doing everything in his power to keep the Wizarding and Muggle worlds safe from such a return. The Ministry of Magic, of course, had been under denial about Voldemort's likely return from that horrible day that had been burned into Harry's mind. Cedric's death had affected Harry in ways that most teenagers do not know, and won't until they grow into adults. Guilt was replaced by regret, which was in turn replaced with denial, then to fear, anger, pain, deep sadness, and, finally, acceptance. It had been a long, bumpy, and emotional path to accept that he wasn't to blame for Cedric's death. Much thanks had to be given to Ron and Hermione, who had helped him in ways he couldn't even begin to realize. But that wasn't the beginning of it all. More was about to affect Harry's life. Some of it he had planned on, some he had expected might occur, and other things would completely catch him off guard. They were all teenagers, after all, and hormones were about to have their way with Harry and his friends. 


	2. Back Home

**_Discalaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any part of his world. All are the property of J.K. Rowling and all the companies that she works with. I am attempting to make no profit. _**

This fic is rated R for future chapters. Do not read it if you are not of age! 

This is my first fic, so feedback would be much appreciated. Be kind, but honest. Thanks!   
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Harry arrived via Floo Powder that Saturday evening, only to find that the exciting and ridiculously warm welcome he was expecting was missing. Instead, Harry heard shrieking from what sounded like a very angry Molly Weasley coming from somewhere upstairs. Next, he heard giggling and an appalled gasp from the kitchen. 

"He has _what_ in his room? That's awful! Where would he get that?!" 

It sounded to Harry that Hermione had gotten here before him, so he put his trunk in the living room, and went to the kitchen. As he crossed the living room, Harry heard some more of Ginny's giggles, and another high pitched scream from upstairs. 

"I don't know. Fred and George, probably. They love to help out Ron, and get him into trouble, too." 

Harry walked into the kitchen as Hermione huffed an "Honestly!" and then his presence caused Ginny swallowed some giggles. She turned beat red as was the natural Weasley reaction to pretty much any emotion. 

"Hey. What's going on with Ron?" Harry asked the girls, hoping to gain some insight into the situation before facing his other best friend. At this, both girls turned bright red. Now, unlike when Ginny turned red and Harry brushed it off, it was quite rare to see Hermione blush, and Harry's curiosity heightened. It was obviously something very embarrassing. 

"Well...." began Hermione, "Ron has, well, Mrs. Weasley found something that didn't make her happy in Ron's room when she was cleaning." Harry stared at her, obviously wanting to know more, and growing both increasingly annoyed and curious as the silence exploded in his ears. As if reading his mind, Ginny piped in. 

"Ron had pictures and magazines of naked women in his room!" Then, she quickly got up, stifling more giggles, and turning an almost beautiful shade of scarlet, and ran into another room. Harry just looked at Hermione for a second before sitting down. He wondered why it had taken him so long to sit down. They talked for a while, avoiding the subject of Ron's apparently newly acquired possessions. Harry was sure that Ron would have shown him such a valuable collection, had it been something he'd had for most of the summer. He couldn't wait to talk to Ron about them, find out where he had gotten them. Of course he wasn't about to tell all this to Hermione. She was like his sister, and he was almost positive that she would disapprove rather loudly. He wasn't in the mood for it. So they talked about school until Molly Weasley came downstairs in a huff. Storming into the kitchen, she stopped abruptly and softened her expression at Harry's presence. 

"Well Hello! Harry, dear, how are you? Here, let me get you a bit of cake. Ginny and I made it this afternoon. I was teaching her how to cook, and, well, I have to admit, she seems to have acquired some of her mother's skill. The cake came out quite well. My mother would be so proud!" At the mention of her name, Ginny had come back into the kitchen, and began serving her cake proudly. She sat down across from Harry. Molly poured them all some milk, and then went into the living room, mumbling something about finding a book that Ron should read. Harry looked down at the cake. 

_So, Ginny made it, he thought, smiling, it's such a pretty color. The icing even matches her eyes. I wonder how she did that._

As he began to eat, Ron crept into the kitchen and got himself a slice. He was still red from the embarrassment of the situation upstairs. Both of the girls looked at him. Hermione glared, and Harry could tell that it took everything in her power not to repeat Molly's performance. Ginny was trying not to start giggling in front of Ron. Harry stared at her, noting the gleam in her eye, and wondered what she would have thought about him if he had those magazines. The afternoon wore on quite normally. Ron and Harry talked about Quidditch. Hermione struggled to both have fun, and stay mad at Ron. Nothing new there, as the two quarreled constantly. It almost seemed as though it was non-stop, sometimes. But they were friends, and they always ended up making up. 


End file.
